Cerebral Munroe

By Lewis Bryon

Brothers Zyon and Tayo Basto lose both their parents within a few years of each other before starting high school. After their father, Proy, passes away while in a yearlong year coma, the boys fall asleep at a chess board and wake up in a time and space farther away than dreams could take them. Before them sits a shiny, faceless black mercenary, tasked with the favor of teaching two kids who their father really is and helping them grow into his only friend's legacy. And, no, it is not a dream.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lewis Bryon
• Release date: Nov 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223472544

Book preview

For the misheard, the misunderstood, and the misbelieved. For loud and untold stories and unspoken truths.

Putting things into words does not make them right, nor does it right them. It does make them real.

A Collection

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Living Room

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Galaxy of Oraz

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Doorman

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Tayo Mayo

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Tint

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Golem in Old Hazo

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Nu Lifian

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Raef Mortia

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Nwaanyị Anya

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Caput the Young Ruler

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The Chief and the Messenger

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Let’s Talk

Living Room

Daddaaaaaaaaaay!

I sighed and wished my son, Little Tayo, would physically come to where I am to ask me questions instead of calling for me from anywhere in the house. Especially when I’m upstairs.

"Zyon! Yeah! Come tell this boy I ain’t lyin! You know it’s facts comin from you. I guess Uncle T need that good cosign."

It was the third thing to interrupt my morning shave. The second thing was my son yelling my name over and over until I came downstairs, like he woke up to a lion by the fireplace. My first time hearing the bloody murder scream from my child, so I spawned the j-blade and cleared twenty hardwood stairs in two leaps, almost slamming into the front window. Bits of lime scented shaving foam stuck to the hallway and decorated the guardrail. Selfish as it sounds, one of the things I probably miss the most about his mother is how in tune she was with him. She always knew how to read him, from his expressions to his intentions and everything in between.

What spooked my son was my younger brother, Tayo, or Uncle T, warping into our backyard while on the emergency brake. To put this into perspective, he broke into within one hundred meters of our front door at three times the speed of light, in a seven ton spacecraft from Sudo, another world much more fantastic than our own. In a split second, it looked like a miniature solar flare burst suddenly into existence and was flung off in the direction of our picture window, dissipating just before burning up the garden, exploding the air many times louder than thunder. I didn’t hear it because our home is proofed against deafening sounds, but my son was watching the old television that’s positioned right below said window. He almost died from thinking we almost died.

The first interruption was Big Tayo’s transmission about coming over. He wanted to surprise Little Tayo with a visitor from Sudo, so I had to act like I didn’t know he was coming. It had been a few months since I last saw my brother, but he hadn’t seen his nephew in about a year. There are conditions and consequences to dual citizenship in different worlds. While having a wife for a god in another world helps to navigate the challenges, even the divine are not absolute.

After feigning surprise at Tayo’s overly dramatic entrance, I got back to trimming my nose hairs in solitude. I stepped quickly and lightly down the stairs like a normal person this time, in house slippers, gray sweatpants and a white tee. I wasn’t sure how to feel about some stranger sitting on my sofa.

Before I came around the corner, in a small, soft, feminine voice, I heard unko.

I suddenly felt eyes on me and I froze. Then I walked almost violently into the living room to look at the voice’s face. In the muscular, battle hardened arms of my little brother was this adorable, deep chocolate complexioned, sunkissed baby girl with jet black eyes and silver locks.

Yep! Surprise to you, too, bruh! Meet ya niece!

His face grew solemn. We, uh... named her Thadie. I hope you good with that?

"Yeah, of course... She looks... Just like her. Even her voice is similar. So, she saw me through the wall?", I asked with my mouth open.

My brother kept his eyes on mine, smirked, and pointed at the wall where a magic one-way mirror was hidden. Mouth still open, and without blinking, I turned and looked at the wall, turned and looked at her, and then at him.

Dude. This... this is trippy.

Her speaking and recognizing me from photos at two months old would be impressive for any baby in this world. But Sudo people develop differently than human children. Seeing me in the magic mirror is not only an impressive show of magic potential, but it also implies a potential rebirth. There are various spells and items placed around me, my kids, and our habitation. I say habitation because it includes our vehicles, training locales, offices, hang out spots, classrooms; pretty much anywhere anyone of us frequents. All magic dealing with security, like the one-way mirror, is imbued with me and my wife’s DNA. Only I should be able to see and manipulate its abilities. If she can, it means she is of her spirit. This is complicated. In Sudo, the only way for a rebirth to happen is for the first stage of transition to have taken place. In our world, that means a death. But my Thadie is very much alive, as she is no longer mortal.

Where did the boys go?, I asked after finally realizing they hadn’t been in the room since I walked in.

"Oh, you already know. They outside gettin familiar with little Zyon’s new powers. He’s been in a lot of battles since last you saw the boy. And he prolly really showin off for the fam since his lil girlfriend wanted to-"

My hand went up to pause his explanation. "Now, wait a minute. When did my nephew start dating, Tayo?"

He sighed, already weary of the concern I’m sure he foresaw me having. He been datin for a minute, bruh. You forgot time pass diff’rently in the other world than here? So, anyway, his lil thang-thang wanted to meet you.

Puzzled, I asked, Why?

Cuz you the one he named after. And, on her homeworld, the one you named after is the one whose legacy you inherit. Which is important when you tryna marriage somebody up.

I must’ve looked as alarmed in my face as I felt in my chest, because my brother instantaneously burst with laughter.

You know what?, I said in a low voice to bring myself down from an emotional high. I’m not even going to press you for further information, because I can already feel the blood pressure mounting in my cranium.

Well, Tayo responded, Was you so different? In love with the idea of bein in love and what not?

Before I could think of a clever reply, the lock on the sliding door clicked closed, and a lean, muscular Japanese looking girl about six feet tall with bone straight black hair and a scar over her left eye stood in front of it. She had a bow about five feet long on her back, and a three stone bracelet on her right wrist.

Zyon, the Doorman; brother of Chief Tayo Mayo, the Thinking Beast. I am Kelvish, Warrior from the tribe of Klun on the Planet Sadim. I shot a glance at Tayo, who failed to fight back a slightly toothy grin at his son falling for a woman from the same planet as his wife. She continued, Your bravery saved our home, and your name echoes in the schools of our people. I am honored to finally cross your path, that I may be found worthy.

Three things had me on edge. First, even though she gave me the traditional Klun salutation of a great warrior, followed by light flattery, she did so without blinking or nodding her head. In the Klun tribe, this signifies an invitation to a test of fighting ability to measure her strength as a lesser warrior against mine as a seasoned one. Second, her bracelet was much like the twelve light gauntlet in my storehouse. They both come from the same planet, and they behave the same. The stones had a deep glow, which means she had most likely been condensing her energy into her bracelet for the entire trip here for a fight. My third issue was that I hadn’t been in a serious fight in the longest time, and Kluns live in a combat culture. I was hungry. My knees were stiff from jumping down the stairs earlier. I was worried about my wife. I had a sinus headache from dust allergies. I was far from ready for her. But it would be rude to simply back out.

Kelvish. I can see that you are a skilled combatant. Your stance leaves no perceptible openings for attack. Your energy frequency vibration is a solid defense against abstract tactics, such as direct psychic, metaphysical or magical attacks. I applaud how well you have developed your fighting spirit and form. I am especially pleased that a warrior of your caliber is in my nephew’s circle to make him great. Slighter than a breeze than could only be felt by wet skin, she began to incrementally lean into my words and electricity began dancing in her stones. But we will not fight today, I said in a tone of fabricated regret. Which she was owed as her face grew blank with disappointment. In all honesty, I went on, my instincts may still be sharp, but I have I not had a true contest or a minute of training in many moons, and my body would not allow me to honor your spirit with a good battle. You would do well to fight my brother. She looked at Tayo.

Well, he said with his arms crossed and standing fully upright with his baby girl on his shoulders, We already did that. And you know I ain’t real good at holdin back, especially when I’m caught off guard. And she kinda like a ninja, so she got the gorilla gong to the face out the gate. It was real quick. And it wasn’t pretty. Took the girl a week to fully recover. At my brother’s words, embarrassment briefly flashed over the woman warrior’s proud exterior.

Well, then, Kelvish, you have had a taste of what many consider to be legendary power. And I’m sure that, in your extensive studies, you and your peers have been given an honest academic account of our history as heroes. But, let me give you a behind the scenes perspective. You may not be able to fight me today, but allow me to give you what you really want. Today, let me tell you how I got to where I am. We’ll let those two in the yard get it all out of their systems. Take a seat over there and have a listen. We’ll begin with the story before our story. The one that made ours possible.

Galaxy of Oraz

Rebirth

Before my eleventh birthday, two bolts of lightning joined paths and struck Dad, putting him into a yearlong coma. But Dad was a man of faith. He often spoke of things we considered to be powers or abilities, but he regarded them as a byproduct of a philosophy. To him, the miraculous was second nature. While his body laid dormant in hospice, his intense belief in the perpetuation of life in uncanny ways propelled his consciousness to be reborn as the first human soul in Sudo. We stood heartbroken next to his bed and waited for his last breath, and Dad was in another world becoming a legend.

While he was reaching the final stages of death on earth, Dad’s energy was becoming the heart of his own galaxy, Oraz. The first of its kind, Oraz is a paradigmatic satellite galaxy that moves from universe to universe in one hundred year cycles. It was established in Sudo by Dad while he was comatose, and named after him. Not his earth name, of course. His Sudo world name, Repus Sinnamud Oraz. It literally translates as super powerful, highly adaptable demigod from its indigenous language. Most people shorten it to all powerful one. Two days after his birth on Gav, the Seers of Sadim gave him this name after foreseeing him as the hero of his age. There were many who came, and many to come, who would save a people. Save a nation. Save a planet. Save a galaxy, or even a universe. He saved everything. These are the words of the Seers. They told this to Oraz’s mentor, his parents, and the people of Gav. Oraz then entrusted his story to Hinpaido, often referred to as-

A asshole, my brother said, sitting back on the couch with his arms folded, tapping his foot to no rhythm and following an invisible trail on the ceiling. Baby Thadie clapped.

Tayo, man, how can you say stuff like that? All in front of the baby? That aside, He helped us out when we went to Oraz. Like, we would’ve probably died, bro. If nothing else, he kept his word.

Nah, mayne. He sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees, forearm muscles rolling and dancing like a bodybuilder’s when they write. "He a ass-hole. He ain’t have to pull some of the mess he pulled. We all dope and what not, but we ain’t need some of the stress. As he spoke, his gaze shifted from one spot to another with each incremental change in intensity. I’m tough. I’m a bad mofo, feel me? But I was a boy. A human boy. Looking me square in the face, he continued, He knew dat! I ain’t have to deal with some of the mess. And you wasn’t always there, so you don’t know. So, nah."

All eyes in the room stuck to Tayo, not sure what else to expect from his fit. I was probably the only one rolling my eyes while looking at my brother. After ten quiet seconds, I asked him Are you done, now? Like the last time, he didn’t respond. He didn’t look at anyone. He sat on the couch, mumbling cuss words into his chest.

Hinpaido was considered a god by many for his raw destructive power, as opposed to Dad being regarded as a god for his raw creative power. They were rivals who became like cousins who challenged each other whenever they met. Dad entrusted Hinpaido to deliver his true story to us when we arrived in Sudo. He trusted him for his integrity. He also could rely on him because, even though they were nearly evenly matched, nothing in all of creation was able to kill Hinpaido. He was sure to be around when we came through. As I spoke to Kelvish, her eyes were stuck on Tayo. I never learned to read minds, and her face was straight as a plumbline, but I could tell she was unimpressed with the Thinking Beast’s display of vulnerability. It was the same look his wife had when she met him.

As stated before, Dad’s soul was reborn on Gav, which is inhabited by a small variety of big, blue skinned, purple haired humanoid creatures that have notable strength. But he was born a mutant of mutants. His father was Xenith, the greatest Gavian warrior in history. His abilities were based on his self-belief, providing a virtually limitless capacity for speed, strength, and other attributes for combat. His mother was a mutant named Ibatha, stolen from earth as a child. She could nullify and borrow the powers of others, and she was a master energy manipulator. At full maturity, Oraz stood at nine feet, eight inches tall, weighing in at eight hundred pounds of muscle. Their genetic mixture caused him to have bronze skin with purple markings, a white mohawk, and lights for pupils. This was not a love baby. This was a political move orchestrated by a galaxy hopping time traveler named Tophern.

Tophern came from a line of brilliant inventors, artists, teachers and explorers, all driven mad by the politically influenced shortcomings of their world. He created a space-time machine small enough to wear as a wristband, which he used in his many attempts to manipulate resources and historical epochs to gain power. In a search through the future of Gav and its galaxy, Tophern discovered that a sun consuming wizard called Dalaron would one day eat their sun, and all the planets around it would drift out of orbit. He came to Gav twenty-one years before Dalaron’s arrival and shared this revelation with the king. He told him that those across the world and even the galaxy would put aside their differences and band together against this foe, but their enemy would prove far too great a force to be reckoned with. The allied forces would fall in a fantastic but futile fight for survival, and all things would be undone. There is a short list of things Gavians generally fear. Annihilation isn’t on the list. Thusly, the king decided it best for his people to seize the opportunity and prepare the nations by making military training available to the public. Tophern suggested a type of insurance policy. At first, the king’s patience appeared to run thin at the idea of an outsider’s hand in the mix. However, the king loved epic displays of power in battle more than life itself, which is what the time traveler promised him.

Tophern told the king of the mutated human woman among them and her lineage of powerful telepaths and energy manipulators. To prove himself and validate his story, he took the king to earth and showed him past conflicts where their abilities were on display. He also showed that in another timeline, the Gavian and human species’ would become one, resulting in the birth of the most powerful creature in the multiverse that isn’t a god or abstract being. The king grew excited at the potential for not only coercing the greatest battle ever fought, but for future generations and the power they could possess through this hybrid. He agreed to help Tophern begin make the necessary preparations.

Ibatha and Xenith had no need to have relations or a relationship. In fact, it was forbidden. They were to never connect with their child. Oraz was to believe he was the savior of the galaxy, fashioned out of stardust by Fate herself. Tophern would be the prophet to guide him to the fruition of his destiny. It would be his life’s purpose. Ibatha’s egg and Xenith’s seed were extracted and placed in an artificial womb where the development process was monitored and controlled to produce the most favorable outcome. As soon as he could walk and talk, Oraz began training to discover and harness his abilities. He could nullify and synthesize the powers of other mutants, and synthesize the power of anything possessing life energy, like Ibatha. With an extremely powerful Gavian anatomy, far superior to his mother’s human one, his capacity for reproducing and retaining abilities was much greater. It was ultimately limitless. Like his father, Xenith, Oraz was inherently faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone. Unlike his father, however, Oraz’s power did not depend on his confidence. He was submerged into the best combat training, from the elite to the underground. He absorbed the abilities of many great warriors; telepaths, time travelers, magicians, teleporters, manipulators, and on and on. He became the ultimate warrior. The ultimate weapon. He could fly a hundred thousand times faster than the speed of light. Survive in space unassisted. Super hearing. Super sight. He became, in effect, all powerful. He became a god of mutation.

As Oraz approached his twenty first birthday, he became distracted by an uneasiness he couldn’t shake. A desire to belong had incrementally mounted up in a corner of his mind. After he added telepathy to his repertoire, he never used it, but he began to pick up on the vibes of the people around him. They were mostly negative vibes, including jealousy, various kinds of lust, and mostly fear. As a result, he grew less focused on training and more interested in connecting with these gods who fashioned him from the stars to save a galaxy. His only connection was Tophern, whose strongest evidence was how Oraz’s power rivaled that of forces only gods could create. But closing black holes and deflecting supernovas was not personhood. It was not bringing him the peace he ached for. So, he visited a sorcerer through his dreams, as to avoid detection. He gave the sorcerer a pinch of his own power so that a temporary duplicate of himself could be fashioned as a diversion. This little scheme earned him five months to travel time and space using abilities borrowed from those who trained him. After peaking into the minds of his tutors, he learned of Earth.

Revelation

In this new life, with his catalogue of abilities, Dad came to Earth. He visited his mother’s home world searching for mutants with genetic markers identical to his. He found about two dozen people, all of them within four hundred miles of each other, and all possessing powerful minds. Some were more powerful telekinetically, some more powerful telepathically, and some were better at manipulating energy and imitating abilities. One little girl, however, could create reality to a limited extent. This is where Oraz gained his most prized ability. All his life, his unique combination of the faculty to appropriate abilities and a body that could manage immeasurable amounts of power, had been fashioned for the purpose of eliminating a single threat. For the first time, Oraz saw the closest thing to what he felt was god-like. On his journey to earth, he met many creatures. Came across many occurrences, most of them destructive. Beasts fighting. Nations at war. Tribes in conflict. Even stars dying and exploding, but never being born. But this five year old mutant girl created an apartment complex where her family could live for free, the refrigerators and pantries stayed full of food they never had to buy or grow, running water was pure, and candy dishes had the best sweets in the world. It was the only ability he ever became completely excited about absorbing and using. Twenty years of becoming a weapon paled to five minutes with a distant cousin with an affinity for candy. He couldn’t wait to make something, for a change.

While Oraz sat with legs folded across from the little girl on a patch of grass, mulling over his prospects, a dark skinned, grey haired, grey eyed blind woman in her seventies, wearing cornrows halfway covered by a white hoodie was casually walking in his direction from a corner where nothing was a second before. It unnerved the towering hybrid at first, but her presence somehow felt natural to him. Finally standing by Oraz’s shoulder, her gaze landed on the grass between him and the little girl.

The little girl looked up from changing a square foot of grass into cotton candy, butterscotch pudding, licorice, and then back into cotton candy, Hi, Runma! When you get back?

Chile, I ain’t went nowhere. You know betta, girl. The old woman’s grin was toothless and her face shook a bit when she talked.

The girl pouted and said, But we never even saw you, Runma. Where you come from?

I was hidin.

But, Runma, the girl said, ain’t nobody round here gon hurtchu. This big fella here ain’t bad. If he was, I’d just make him into cotton candy and have it for dessert!

Oraz began to wonder where the rest of these treats came from. As if she heard him say it aloud, the old lady said Nah, she ain’t even like that. She just protective cuz she the only one pure, so she the only one I let see me. That is until today.

She smiled at Oraz with the warmest smile he ever felt, and he couldn’t shake the sensation that they belonged to each other. She held her little hands out in front of her and kept smiling at him. He looked at the little girl, who nodded her permission with a huge grin, and he placed his giant left hand in hers. They were wrinkled, but settling.

Ya see, she said looking into the sky I been hidin most of my life, since that time travellin turkey came and snatched up a handful of mutant girls about sixty years ago. I was only ten and never been in a fight, so all I could do was hide. I ain’t know my power or how to use it then, but it saved me that night. My sister, Ibatha, would fight all the time. Fought hard. Played hard. The doctor say she wild and gotta mental issue, so they took out part of her brain. Made her real obedient. So, when them thugs came, she was easy to take. I came outta hidin and she was gone. Her breathing deepened, but she refused to blink and let the tear drop that formed in her eyelid. My name Keyshia. I’m ya aunty, baby.

Oraz involuntarily sat up straight, like a kid hearing their mom’s car pull up and they forgot to take the chicken out the freezer. He felt the need to inhale, realizing he stopped breathing for a moment. He began blinking rapidly to alleviate a painful dryness in his eyes, realizing he also was staring into the air for a while.

Looking at this new aunt, he began to say I have searched the cosmos for the gods who-

He lied, chile. She pressed her thumb down in the middle of his palm, "He lied." Before hurt or anger had the chance to swell up, light slowly rolled up on an image of a copper colored ten year old girl. She was lean and scrappy looking. Her dark hair was in two thick braids.

I always been a softie, but ya mama always beat the crap outta bullies. Older kids. Multiple kids. Boys. It never mattered. The odds could never be stacked high enough against her to matter. Lil’ did she know, we come from a long line of powerful mutants, real good at doing stuff with energy and the mind. When she fought, she made her moves stronger and faster without knowin. She would use whatever was around, like heat, electricity, wind, gravity, even shadow, believe it or not. It was so subtle I was the only one who could see it happening, so she never believed me. Tophern sent his cronies from the future to snatch up Ibatha, myself, and several others in our bloodline as children when we were weaker. Then he made it look like coincidence that she was on ya daddy home world when he had the bright idea to make you. He sent people into different parts of the world to look for us, so I been hidin ever since. Soon as I saw you and your skin, I felt her. I felt her spirit. I felt her story.

Oraz looked at the little girl in front of him. This is my niece?

The little girl stopped making candy to roll her eyes and say, Second cousin, actually, then got back to task.

I have a..., Oraz began to say.

Family, His aunt broke in. You got family, baby.  Real, talk to’em, squeeze on’em, look at’em family. But you don’t have a lot of time, because you a lot like ya daddy.

Oraz’s face lit up to the point that his complexion looked a shade lighter, and a smiling wonder flooded his eyes. Is my dad a mutant, too? Is he- is he here? Is he on this planet? Is he on Gav?

Nah, baby, she said, still holding her nephew’s giant hand, but slightly massaging it. "Ya momma and ya daddy was both on Gav. But they gone, now. You gotta ask Tophern about that."

At the mention of the name, Oraz slowly drew his hand back, saying it to himself in a dangerous, almost growling voice. He stood up, rising from five feet seated to almost ten feet standing. Keyshia put her hand on an abdominal muscle half the size of her torso.

Listen, Oraz. In her nephew, she sensed the beginning of a swing to wrath that greatly outdistanced his previously radiant joy. She empathically impressed a sense of calm to keep him balanced. "Listen to ya aunty. A whole world just woke up in you. It’s a dream that won’t let you sleep, and it’s bigger than all of us. All these years you been tryina find how you fit. Trying to settle ya soul. Been feelin detached as a savior, cuz you savin folk who ain’t yours. Truth is, because of a complex history and that big ol’ heart of yours, you more connected than even we are. I ain’t gonna tell you not to deal with Tophern how you see fit. You a man. That’s yo business. Just make sure you can live with it all."

After one last look at his aunt, his second cousin, and the candy grass in the custom created apartment complex, Oraz said his goodbyes and began his course for Gav.

Sudo

Most people, even from parts of Sudo, are generally unfamiliar with its place in creation. During his three month return trip to deal with the manipulative Tophern, Oraz found himself at a strange peace with his revelation. He found his roots and learned from them how to create life. He felt a sense of purpose deeper and brighter than even if the false one given him were true. Three months was sufficient time to figure how to handle things on Gav, and what to do with this newfound sobriety of a new world awakened in him. In the process, he came to learn the most important things about Sudo, creation, and the multiverse.

The newly impassioned hybrid was three galaxies from Earth when a flowy white blur giving off intense energy came into his periphery a great distance away. Oraz stopped to look directly and see what was there, but almost panicked and barely dodged what he concluded was the slicing wave of a sword swing. It was faster than almost anything he’d seen. Before Oraz could blink twice, the blur appeared underneath his chin, jabbing his solar plexus with the hilt of a sword, sending him shooting through meteors, a few moons and a small planet until his levitation slowed